Snowdrop
Snowdrop is a fan-made animated short based on My Little Pony Friendship is Magic by Silly Filly Studios. It is written by Meredith Sims, and directed by Meredith Sims and Marshal 'Zedrin' Watson. Set during the time between Discord's reign and Princess Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon, it tells the story of a young, blind filly named Snowdrop who makes a discovery that offers Cloudsdale--and Equestria--a gift, one that today many take for granted. Summary The narrator, Princess Celestia, speaks at length of the wonder of the first winter snow before it flashes back to sometime in Cloudsdale's past. In the flashback, Princess Celestia appears as she is depicted in many pieces of fan art: with a uniformly pink mane, to show that she is in her younger years. A teacher named Mrs. Windith is giving a lesson about warm fronts to a classroom of Pegasi colts and fillies before the subject shifts to the upcoming Spring Sunrise, an event during which weather ponies deliver rainshowers from the south to melt the snow. As part of the occasion, the foals in class have been partnered up to present gifts to the princesses. A filly named Snowdrop is the only one in class with neither a partner nor a presentation, and Mrs. Windith reminds her of the importance of the Spring Sunrise. Fearing further ostracism from her classmates because of her blindness, Snowdrop says she does have a presentation that she's been working on by herself. Before she can elaborate, the bell rings and class is dismissed. Mrs. Windith expresses concern that Snowdrop is working alone, but the filly assures her that it's alright. With a sigh, Snowdrop leaves for home. At her cloud home, Snowdrop is sad, putting herself down and calling herself useless. She doesn't want to go to the Spring Sunrise for fear of the princesses laughing at her. She looks up to the sky and remembers a night on which she and her mother gazed at the stars and her mother told her that if she listened closely, she could hear the stars twinkle. Snowdrop remarks that she'd rather see the stars than hear them, but Snowdrop's mother tells her she's a special filly, and that she won't need her eyes to find her place in the world. When the flashback ends, Snowdrop makes a wish upon a star to do something memorable for once. In her sorrow, she starts to cry, and the single tear she sheds solidifies into a speck of ice. Snowdrop takes the tiny ice crystal in her hooves, not recognizing the sound it makes as the snow she's familiar with. Remembering her mother's words about the different sizes and shifting shapes of stars, Snowdrop plucks one of her feathers and uses the hollow end to shave pieces off the speck of ice and shape it into something else. Some time later, Snowdrop's mother beckons her daughter inside, and Snowdrop goes to show her mother what she has made. Two days later, on the day of the Spring Sunrise, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna look out onto the foals of Mrs. Windith's class and their families, thanking them for the gifts they've presented. Before one of the gifts can be chosen as the "Centennial Symbol", Snowdrop and her mother arrive to present Snowdrop's gift: a crudely made snowflake. When she's ridiculed by some of her classmates for such a meaningless offering, Snowdrop defends herself by saying that just as the stars of the night sky can grant wishes, so too can stars made of ice. She remarks on the gifts that winter has long brought, but always ignored; and that winter deserves just as much love and recognition as the other seasons of the year. Luna seems particularly moved by Snowdrop's words and wishes to see her "wishing snow" up-close. Celestia smiles and asks Snowdrop if she could make more, as Luna admires the snowflake with tears in her eyes. Celestia narrates that the following year's snow was one of Equestria's most celebrated events. Snowfalls from then on were gentle and sprinkled with Snowdrop's snowflakes, more intricate in design than before. A close-up on Snowdrop shows her receiving her cutie mark, a flower with a snowflake on top. A thousand years later, sometime after the defeat of Nightmare Moon, only one of Snowdrop's snowflakes is left. Luna wants to preserve it for the sake of honoring her dear friend's memory, but Celestia knows it's not what Snowdrop would've wanted. The two princesses step onto the Canterlot castle balcony. Luna lifts a vase containing the last snowflake into the sky as she mentally gives thanks to Snowdrop. The first snowflake of winter falls out of the vase, being the very first snowflake that Snowdrop ever made. It soon after lands on a flower on the ground below, in a pose similar to Snowdrop's cutie mark. Voices *Meredith Sims - Snowdrop *Taylor Rose - Mrs. Windith *Kira Buckland - Primrose (Snowdrop's mother) *Jen McGregor - Princess Celestia, Cumulo Nimbus *Hannah Trusty - Princess Luna, Pony classmate #1 *Emily Koch - Cirrus *Spencer Moran - Castle Guard *Reagan Murdock - Pony classmate #2 *Courtney Thompson - Pony classmate #3 Reception Snowdrop has gained very positive feedback from fans. Many praise this video for its voice acting and animation, stating that Silly Filly Studios' style was up to par with DHX Studio's standards. Other fans praised the video for its drama-like tone, as many fan projects are made for laughs. The character of Snowdrop has also been praised by many fans, with many saying that she's very relaterable on how she deals with her problems. Because of this, many fans consider Snowdrop to be one of the best fan-made projects. Snowdrop has often been compared to Double Rainboom which was uploaded in the same month as the former. Cameos *A number of background ponies from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic make cameo appearances in the short, including Dinky Doo, Roseluck, and Fleur de Lis. *Surprise and Firefly of G1 also make cameo appearances. References See Also *Seed No Evil, a partial parody of Snowdrop Category:Fanmade videos Category:Silly Filly Studios